Computer Glossary and Vocabulary  
  1. _____________(digital subscriber line) technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines.
  2. __________(bits per second) a measure of the speed at which data is transmitted between computers. A 28.8 modem transmits data at speeds of up to
  3. ______________(central processing unit) the part of the computer that controls and performs all processing activities.
  4. ____________(DNS) the Internet naming scheme, which consists of a hierarchical sequence of names from the most specific to the most general (left to right), separated by dots.
  5. __________(dots per inch) the resolution for page printers, image-setters and graphics screens.
  6. _____________(HyperText Mark-up Language) used to format information so that it can be structured and made accessible to the WWW.
  7. ________________(graphical user interface) designed so that the user can perform tasks by using a mouse to point and click on an icon. The user can perform any task with either the mouse or the keyboard.
  8. _____________(file transmission protocol) a standard for moving files from one computer to another. Predominantly used on the Internet.
  9. ______________(Internet service provider) a company that provides Internet service.
  10. ___________(Kb) unit of measure for data storage. One kilobyte is equivalent to 1024 bytes or 8192 bits
  11. _____________(local area network) a network of interconnected workstations sharing the resources of a single processor or server within a relatively small geographic area.
  12. _____________(HyperText Transfer Protocol) the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.
  13. _________________(moving picture experts group) a standard used on the World Wide Web for video and audio files.
  14. ________________(Microsoft disk operating system) Microsoft’s version of DOS.
  15. ________________(musical instrument digital interface) a standard for connecting computers and musical instruments.
  16. ______________(liquid crystal display) the dark-on-light display seen on most calculators and digital watches.
  17. __________________(online service provider) a company that provides you with online service. The most popular online service provider is America Online.
  18. ____________________(optical character recognition) a means of converting scanned text into digital codes that can be read by a computer program as actual text rather than just as a picture. Most scanners now come with OCR and image editing software.
  19. ________________(OS) the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a bootstrap program, manages all the other programs in a computer. The other programs are called applications.
  20. ________________(personal computer) a computer designed to be used by one person at a time.
  21. _________________(random access memory) temporary storage area that the processor uses to execute programs and hold data. Information is put into RAM and held there. Once the RAM becomes full, information has to be removed to make space for the current task being performed.
  22. _________________(post office protocol) a standard for exchanging e-mail between a PC and the Internet access provider.
  23. _________________(read onlymemory) data may only be retrieved from this type of memory, not written to it. All PCs have ROM chips. When the PC is switched on, the information in the ROM chip is used to test the ram. ROM does not require a constant electric supply to keep the information intact.
  24. ________________(technology without an interesting name) a standard interface used with devices such as scanners.
  25. __________________(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in the private networks called intranets and in extranets.
  26. _______________(tagged image file format) one of the many different types of file format used on PCs. This particular type is a graphics file.
  27. __________________(WorldWideWeb) software that enables digital data that has been "marked up" with HTML to be put into hypertext databases. By clicking on the marked text, the user is automatically logged into the new Web server where the linked data is found. The Web is now the main force behind Internet growth.
  28. _________________(what you see is what you get) What you can see on the screen is what you will see on paper when you print the screen contents.
  29. _____________a camera that produces photographs that can be saved as files on a PC.
  30. ___________________a compact disc that has computer data stored on it. A CD-ROM can hold 650 megabytes of data. New technology has brought us the DVD, or digital versatile disc.
  31. ______________a computer device that reads and writes data from and to a magnetic disk. The disk that is used for this type of storage is called a floppy disk because the disk is flexible, not rigid.
  32. _______________a computer device that reads and writes data from and to one or more magnetic disks. These disks are permanently housed inside the hard drive.
  33. _______________a device that allows the user to communicate with the computer without using the keyboard. A mouse is usually palm-sized, with two to three buttons for the fingers.
  34. _______________a device used to display the images that are generated by a PC’s video adapter.
  35. _______________a duplicate copy of some data or a disk or some software that is made by the user as a safeguard against the loss of the original information
  36. ______________a flat, circular, metal or plastic platter coated with a thin layer of magnetic material on which data may be recorded as a series of magnetic signals arranged in circular patterns (called tracks).
  37. _______________a flashing rectangle or line on the screen that shows exactly where the user is working.
  38. _______________a multitasking operating system is one that allows a PC to perform more than one task at a time.
  39. _______________in DOS or Windows, computer files have to be named using a standard consisting of a name, a point and a file extension. For example, the file "autoexec.bat" has a file extension of "bat."
  40. _______________a PC that is about the same size as an ordinary sheet of paper and about 5 cm thick. The term notebook has superseded the term laptop, which generally referred to a portable PC.
  41. _______________programs written to serve a particular function for the user of a computer. Typical examples are word processors, spreadsheets, and games.
  42. _______________a program written to locate and remove harmful viruses from a PC.
  43. _______________a unit of measure for data storage. One megabyte is equivalent to 1048 kilobytes.
  44. _______________a typeface enhancement such as bold or script. Although it is not precisely correct, the term is often used to refer to a typeface style such as Bookface, Courier, or Sans Serif.
  45. _______________in Windows, a bar across the top of the current window which contains the headings of a number of available menus.
  46. _______________a small picture that is displayed on the screen. It is intended to show a task. Clicking the icon with the mouse will begin the task.
  47. _______________a special type of GIF file, giving the impression of a video.
  48. _______________analogue systems refer to the use of variable voltage in electrical signals to represent any kind of data.
  49. _______________a picture or non-text item within a document. Most Web pages contain a number of graphics.
  50. _______________another name for a 3.5 inch floppy disk.
  51. _______________a process that prepares either a hard disk or a floppy disk for initial use. Format of a disk will completely erase the contents.
  52. _______________characters per second. The measure of how fast a printer can print a document or how fast a communications device can send information.
  53. _______________a program that provides an interface to remote programs (called clients), most commonly across a network, so these clients can access some service such as databases, printing, etc. In general, the clients act (indirectly) on behalf of a human end-user.
  54. _______________application programs that enable the user to draw pictures using a variety of different tools or effects similar to those used by an artist when creating a painting or sketch.
  55. _______________a number of programs will require the user to provide information. In some cases if the user chooses not to enter a value a "default value" will be taken.
  56. _______________electronically distributed mail. A widely used facility on the Internet that sends addressed messages over a network.
  57. _______________an input device that is designed to recognise patterns of printed or drawn markings. Scanners are used to convert printed images into files for processing by various application programs.
  58. _______________hardware that allows you to print information via the software you are using on the computer.
  59. _______________portable PC. The term laptop has been superseded by notebook.
  60. _______________data is stored in the form of a file. Files can be program files, containing instructions that allow the PC to perform various tasks under the control of the user, or data files that contain information only.
  61. _______________hold information that the PC needs to use. These chips are connected directly to the microprocessor.
  62. _______________the page by which a user normally enters a Web site.
  63. _______________Intel introduced the Pentium processor in 1993.
  64. _______________one of the many facilities available on the Internet. Like most of the Internet, newsgroups are run voluntarily and co-operatively. A news group is centered on a particular discussion topic.
  65. _______________these ports get their names from the way data flows through them. A serial port can transfer data only one bit at a time. A parallel port is capable of transferring data eight bits (or one byte) at a time; it has several channels for all of the individual bits to pass through at the same time.
  66. _______________the procedure your computer goes through when you turn it on. The expression means that your computer must gather itself together before you can use it. When you boot up your computer, the circuitry on the motherboard activates the programs stored in the BIOS chips.
  67. _______________the file or directory where incoming e-mail messages are stored on the computer of the Internet service provider.
  68. _______________the hundreds of thousands of computers that are connected by a "net" of wires and satellites all over the world. Networks on the Internet use the same telecommunications protocol (TCP/IP) and provide electronic mail, remote log-in, and file-transfer services.
  69. _______________the audio and visual capabilities of a computer. Generally, a multimedia-equipped system will come with a sound card, a video board, a CD-ROM drive and a set of speakers.
  70. _______________takes digital data from a computer and converts it into electrical pulses that can be sent over a telephone line, where they can be received by a second modem and converted back into digital data.
  71. _______________the process of ending your access to a particular computer.
  72. _______________records are comprised of fields. Each field is set aside for a particular piece of information. For example, a company database may contain a record for each customer. Each of these records may contain a field containing the customer’s telephone number.
  73. _______________the concept of adding new components to a PC (such as an external modem) without having to manually configure anything.
  74. _______________the main device used for entering data into a PC or giving it an instruction to do something specific.
  75. _______________the microprocessor is built onto a single piece of silicon, known as a wafer or chip. It can be programmed to perform a great number of information-handling tasks.
  76. _______________the smallest element of information that programs can display or print.
  77. _______________the toolbar sits across the top or down the side of a particular window. It allows the user to perform certain tasks such as opening a file or submitting a print. The toolbar can usually be customised so that the user can add those tasks most regularly performed.
  78. _______________the traditional units of measure in printing. There are 12 points to a pica and about 72 points to an inch.